Woman gives birth in car park

Posted: 20 February 2018
Kate Ewer, Head of Communications

A woman gave birth to her first child at Watford
General Hospital on Monday 19 February but not quite in the spot where she had
planned.

Sian
Austin was advised to come into the Alexandra Birth Centre when she called the
hospital. But while husband Samuel parked the car and she walked from the car
park towards the birth centre, baby Austin couldn’t wait any longer and made a
far quicker entry into the world than anyone had expected.

Fortunately Sian did not give birth alone. Complaints
adviser Madge Taylor heard Sian call out for help and went to her assistance
along with her colleague Andrew Headland.

Madge said: “I knelt down and saw that the baby was
crowning. The baby arrived extremely quickly much to everyone’s surprise. I just
had time to catch her as she delivered into my hands. Once the baby was fully
born I supported her from the front and Andrew supported the baby from behind
mum. She was a lusty baby, crying loudly, well and truly okay and I wished her a
happy birthday.”

Reflecting on what happened, Andrew said: “I felt a
mishmash of feelings about how unexpected and amazing and powerful the whole
event was. It put our fuss and worries about our usual daily concerns into
perspective.”

Another member of staff wrapped her coat around the new
born girl and a midwife reached the car park a few minutes later to attend to
Sian.

Although shaken by the speed and unexpected nature of
events, Sian was otherwise well and both mum and baby were discharged the same
evening.

Sian said: “The experience was all very sudden and I was
relieved after giving birth as this meant that I could finally move. My husband
and I would like to thank the amazing staff at Watford General who were
brilliant throughout my care. We would also like to thank the members of the
public who helped us.

Ends

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West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute trust serving people from across Hertfordshire, north London and further afield. It operates from three sites at Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead hospitals and sees about 600,000 patients a year. We are one of the largest employers locally, with around 4,500 staff and volunteers.